BallotReady
Elected position

South Dakota Commissioner of School and Public Lands

The South Dakota Commissioner of School and Public Lands is an elected, constitutional officer in the executive branch of the South Dakota state government. The office is charged with supervising lands designated for educational use by the federal government, among other various duties. The commissioner is popularly elected every four years by a plurality and is limited to two consecutive terms. The South Dakota Commissioner of School and Public lands has several duties prescribed by Article VIII of the South Dakota Constitution. The office was mainly created to deal with lands designated for educational use by the federal government. Section 4 lays out the details for appraising such school lands that might be sold. It states that the commissioner sits on a board of appraisers that evaluate all such land. This board also includes the auditor and county superintendent of schools. Section 6 describes that such sales are to be conducted through the commissioner's office. All sales are subject to approval by the governor. Section 9 details the commissioner's role in leasing these lands. Other duties of the commissioner of school and public lands include: managing the permanent trust fund; issuing and maintaining grazing leases; inspecting and repairing state-owned CCC and WPA dams; issuing and monitoring all mineral leases for the state; controlling noxious weeds on school and public lands, state-owned dams and meandered lakes; recording land transactions for easements on rights-of-way and state-owned lands; purchasing and selling property as requested by the legislature or other state agencies; issuing seismic permits on state-owned mineral acres.

View your personalized ballot, check your voter registration, make a plan to vote, and research every name and measure on the ballot with BallotReady.

Get Started

Current Officeholders

View your personalized ballot, check your voter registration, make a plan to vote, and research every name and measure on the ballot with BallotReady.

Browse election information by state

  1. Alabama
  2. Alaska
  3. Arizona
  4. Arkansas
  5. California
  6. Colorado
  7. Connecticut
  8. Delaware
  9. District of Columbia
  10. Florida
  11. Georgia
  12. Hawaii
  13. Idaho
  14. Illinois
  15. Indiana
  16. Iowa
  17. Kansas
  18. Kentucky
  19. Louisiana
  20. Maine
  21. Maryland
  22. Massachusetts
  23. Michigan
  24. Minnesota
  25. Mississippi
  26. Missouri
  27. Montana
  28. Nebraska
  29. Nevada
  30. New Hampshire
  31. New Jersey
  32. New Mexico
  33. New York
  34. North Carolina
  35. North Dakota
  36. Ohio
  37. Oklahoma
  38. Oregon
  39. Pennsylvania
  40. Rhode Island
  41. South Carolina
  42. South Dakota
  43. Tennessee
  44. Texas
  45. Utah
  46. Vermont
  47. Virginia
  48. Washington
  49. West Virginia
  50. Wisconsin
  51. Wyoming